1. Priority Claim
This application claims the benefit of priority from European Patent Application No. 07019652.2, filed Oct. 8, 2007, which is incorporated by reference.
2. Technical Field
This application relates to signal processing and, more particularly, to adjusting the gain or spectral shape of audio signals.
3. Related Art
Audio communication systems may operate in noisy environments. Noise may interfere with some audio communication systems, such as hands-free voice communication systems. A hands-free voice communication system may include a microphone to detect near party utterances and a loudspeaker to output utterances received from a remote party. Noise may reduce the quality of the near party utterances detected by the system microphone. Furthermore, noise may make it more difficult for the near party to hear or understand the remote party utterances output from the system loudspeaker.
Some audio communication systems may be susceptible to echo. In a hands-free voice communication system, echo may occur when the system microphone detects the remote party utterances from the system loudspeaker. Echo may reduce the quality of a communication when the remote party utterances are detected by the system microphone and transmitted back to the remote party.
To increase the quality of these communications, audio communication systems may process the detected audio signals to remove noise and/or echo components. Although this processing may enhance the detected audio signals, it may not compensate for some types of noise or echo interference. Therefore, a need exists for an improved way to process audio signals to compensate for noise and echo.